Determine whether a UK VAT-registered business must manually sign up for Making Tax Digital for VAT or is already auto-enrolled, then confirm the connection using the VAT (MTD) API

Steps

1. Check current GOV.UK guidance: HMRC now automatically signs up new VAT registrations for Making Tax Digital for VAT unless the business is exempt or has an approved exemption, so most businesses no longer need to sign up themselves.
2. If a business was not auto-enrolled (e.g. an existing registration missed migration, or an exemption was lifted), complete the manual sign-up on GOV.UK — sign-up via API has been ruled out by HMRC for security reasons, so it is a web journey only.
3. Time a manual sign-up correctly: do not sign up less than 7 days before a VAT Return is due, or less than 5 days after one was due, to avoid conflicts with an in-flight return.
4. Wait for HMRC's sign-up confirmation (typically within about 3 days) before attempting to submit returns through compatible software.
5. Once confirmed, connect your software and call the VAT (MTD) API's retrieve obligations endpoint against the sandbox first, then production, to confirm the business is recognized as MTD-enabled before submitting a return.
6. If software receives an error indicating the business isn't signed up, treat it as a signal to re-check enrollment status on GOV.UK rather than retrying the API call.